


Prick of the Needle

by Nezushi16



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Paris, Bottom Eren Yeager, M/M, Top Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:54:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28932090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nezushi16/pseuds/Nezushi16
Summary: He'd always been good at making dresses. Their patterns, stitching, fabrics...everything about them intrigued him... "Hey Eren, why don't you start a fashion boutique?" {Modern day AU} (Seamster!Eren x Levi)
Relationships: Levi/Eren Yeager
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	1. The First Stitch

**Chapter 1 - The First Stitch**

_He'd always been good at making dresses._ Their patterns, stitching, fabrics...everything about them intrigued him. He was seven when his mother first showed him how to sew a cross-stitch. He'd had trouble with the first few attempts, but he eventually aced the motion. He then moved on to embroidering, hand stitch first, then machine. For his 8th birthday, his mom bought him his very own sewing machine so he would stop sneaking into her room at night. That was his hobby, he'd sit in his room all day, not giving a single care to the outside world. He had everything he needed, he made good grades, both his parents loved him, what more could he want?

It was with that mindset that he made it through his first year of 5th grade. The year he sewed his first dress, and the very same year his parents passed away in a plane accident. The plane crashed while it was en route to Paris, suddenly stalling mid-flight and tumbling into the Atlantic Ocean. Their bodies were never found.

After that, he never stepped foot outside. To the point where his foster parents were getting worried about his health. He refused food, stopped going to school, he wouldn't even come out if the internet was turned off. All he did, day after day, month after month, was sit at his mom's sewing machine and stitch patterns. The couple's daughter, Mikasa, tried to bring him lunch a few times, but she was immediately shoved out the door. His foster family, the Ackermans, worried about him daily. He didn't even come out during his birthday. And after months of isolation, they'd had enough.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

A loud knock pulled him out of his internal thoughts. He could hear the knock, but there was something else there. A sound. A voice maybe? He couldn't tell, everything was too muddled in his head. Voices sounded like the gurgling of a river to him. He wanted to shut it out, but the knock was too persistent to ignore.

He lazily slipped out of the chair, shrugged on his slippers, and proceeded to walk to the door. When he got to the doorframe, he could definitely hear a voice now.

"Eren! Please open the door."

It was his foster dad, who was most likely the one knocking too. A sigh escaped his lips before slowly opening the door. When he looked up, he was met with the soft, brown eyes of his foster dad.

"Eren...hey."

His voice was soft and caring as he crouched down to Eren's level.

"Good morning, Mr. Ackerman." He said in a dull , wavering tone.

The man smiled warmly at the boy and placed a hand on Eren's head to ruffle his hair. There was a slight protest, but Eren allowed it.

"Why don't you come down for breakfast?" The man knew Eren hadn't eaten in several days just by looking at him. Anyone could see the boy was skinny.

Eren turned away, "I don't wanna."

"Come on...just once. Please?"

He took a small glance at Mr. Ackerman, then frowned a little.

"I'm not hungry."

"Then have a glass of milk or juice."

Another glance. Eren began fidgeting with his fingers, pulling and prodding at each one before curling them into a loose fist.

"Fine."

Mr. Ackerman flashed one of his smiles, relieved that Eren finally agreed.

"Alright. Let's head downstairs, kiddo."

"Ok."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

The sound of the TV blocked out most of the conversation. Though Eren just heard snippets, he could tell they were talking about him, but he decided not to hone in on any specific words. If this was any other day, Eren would be in his room trying to block out the regrets of his past. Today was different though. He was tired of shutting people out, he wanted to explore, meet new friends, maybe even visit his parent's graves.

Mrs. Ackerman stood up and walked into the kitchen with a plate in her hands. Eren just watched as she mechanically washed the glassware, eyes fixed on the suds of the dish soap. He glanced down at his plate and stuck his fork into a few pieces of bacon. Everyone ate quietly, finishing their food a little after 9 o'clock. After the dishes were cleaned, Mr. Ackerman trudged into the living room and sank down in his recliner. Eren followed soon after, sitting down on the couch and taking the remote in hand to click through the channels.

"So, Eren, what made you wanna come down and eat with us? Are you feeling better?" Mrs. Ackerman looked at Eren with a sympathetic smile.

Eren sighed, "Yeah. My head is a little foggy, but I'm ok."

"That's good. Just don't push yourself too hard."

"I won't"

"Oh," Mikasa chimed in. "Do you wanna play outside?"

Eren stared at the girl, admiring her raven-colored hair and deep, brown eyes.

"Sure, what're we playing?"

"Tag or hide-and-seek. We could also look for bugs, if that's ok with you."

He giggled lightly, "Yeah, that's fine."

He couldn't believe it; the outside was exactly the way he'd left it. There were still trees and animals, flowers too. The world actually hadn't gone to hell when he shut everything out? Besides there being a few more houses, the neighborhood hadn't changed that much from what Eren could see. A couple was walking their dog, a woman strolled by with her baby, kids were playing in the yard across the road...everything was the same. Eren was relieved, the world was just as he'd left it.

"Hey, I got a ball from the garage if you wanna play toss, or maybe football."

Mikasa was standing near a big oak tree that set in the front of the house, her shoulder leaning against the bark. In her left hand was a ball that clearly wasn't a football.

"Uh...but that's a soccer ball. You said we'd play football."

She glanced down at the ball, then back to Eren.

"Yeah? This is a football."

"No.…it's a soccer ball. You know, soccer?"

Eren was beyond confused, a soccer ball is a football?

"Oh," She chimed. "I forgot you're from America. Silly me."

Eren tilted his head. "Huh?"

"In America, this is called soccer, right?" She pointed to the ball.

"Yeah?"

"Well, here in England, we call it football."

She tossed the ball up a few times while talking.

"Really?"

"Yep, it's more logical, in my opinion anyway. You kick the ball with your foot, so it's called football. American football is weird. Don't you just kick it a couple times in each game?"

"Mhm, you kick it to get a field goal."

"Oh, so that's what it's called. But aren't the players holding the ball 98% of the time?"

"Yeah."

"Then, why does America call it football? Wouldn't it be handball then? Do Americans not know what common sense is?"

Eren sighed, "I don't know, America is strange. Anyway, can we play now?"

"Oh yeah, sorry." She softly tossed the ball to Eren. "I got carried away."

"It's cool, don't worry about it."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

"Hey, can I join you guys?"

A small boy with blond hair was waving his hand from across the street. Eren didn't know who he was, but it seemed like Mikasa did because she was waving him over without hesitation.

"Yeah, come on over!" She hollered.

"Ok, hang on, I gotta tell my grandpa first."

With that, the boy ran into his house.

"Who was he?"

"He's one of my friends from school."

"That's cool."

"Mhm." Mikasa looked back to the boy's house. "Here he comes."

Eren swiveled his head to see the boy jogging over to where they were. Now he could see how blond his hair was, it surprised him, he'd never seen someone with bright, blond hair before.

"Hey, Armin. Did your grandpa say it was ok?"

"Yep! He told me to play as long as I want, just to be back before dinner. Let's see, it's 10am right now, so that means I have about 7 hours before dinner."

"So, your name is Armin?" Eren questioned as he walked over to the two.

"Mhm, and you are?"

"...Eren."

Armin held out his hand, which Eren hesitantly shook.

"Nice to meet you, Eren!"

.

.

.

**What'd ya think? Too weird? Or maybe too short of a chapter to tell? I know Eren being a dressmaker is a LITTLE odd, but I had a dream about him and Levi owning a business together. Although, I had to make this chapter up completely because my dream happened when Eren was an adult and already had a successful fashion career.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Stitching Basics**

_After all is said and done, the first step is always the hardest._ It's simple to think of wanting to do something, but for it to happen, you need to actually go through with your thought. Most people never get past step one, which is probably why there are so many regretful humans in society. For Eren, step one was simple, it's step two that caused trouble.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

"Hey, Eren, what's this word?" Mikasa's finger pointed to a word in the book she was reading.

Eren leaned over the couch and eyed the word she needed help with.

"That word is 'perplexed'."

Mikasa looked at him. "What does it mean?"

"Well, it means something like 'confused' or 'puzzled'."

"Oh. How are you so smart with words?" She asked.

He looked down, "My mom read to me a lot...and she would teach me words I didn't know."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, it's ok. I just...miss her, that's all." Eren's voice was low as he spoke, almost equal to a whisper.

Mikasa turned her attention back to her book.

"I'm gonna go see what your dad is doing."

"Ok."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

The air outside was hot compared to inside the house. The sky was blue and bright. The sun's rays, approaching noon, were gentle and warm. Eren peeped his head around the side of the house, drawn to the noises coming from the backyard. He noticed that the shed door was somewhat open, a small flicker of light emanating from the door. When he got closer, he could hear Mr. Ackerman talking to himself. Not wanting to disturb the man's work, Eren just stood on standby near the door.

A few minutes later, Eren heard Mr. Ackerman sigh under his breath. He peered through the door, hoping to figure out what the man was doing. No luck, whatever he was working on earlier had already been covered up or put away. Eren moved away from the door after he saw Mr. Ackerman walking towards him. He sat down in the grass and messed with the dirt, attempting to act less suspicious.

As Mr. Ackerman walked out of the shed, he caught sight of Eren playing in the grass. He crouched down to the boy's level and spoke softly.

"Having fun?"

Eren spoke into his hand, "Not really."

Mr. Ackerman chuckled.

"Why don't you ask Mikasa to play with you?"

"She's busy reading."

"Ah, I see. Well, I'm sure there's something you can do out here." He looked around the yard. "Oh, you could feed the fish for me."

"Hm?"

"C'mon, I'll show you."

Eren jumped to his feet and followed his foster dad over to a small pond that sat in the middle of the yard.

"See." He pointed. "This is a Koi pond. My wife usually feeds the fish, but she's on a business trip right now."

"What's a Koi?" Eren asked in bewilderment as he stared down at the brightly colored fish.

"Koi is a type of fish. They're common in Japan. We have them because my wife has family there, so we brought some home with us on our last trip."

Eren gazed up at the man, "Mrs. Ackerman has family in Japan?"

"Yes, her parents, two siblings, and a nephew."

"Woah. She has a big family."

"Yep. In fact, I think after she gets back from New Zealand, we're all gonna go to visit her parents for Spring Equinox Day."

The brunet comically tilted his head confusion. Mr. Ackerman chuckled in amusement.

"It's a day when Japanese people visit the graves of loved ones and celebrate the approaching Spring season."

"Hm, that sounds nice."

Eren leaned over the pond and peered into the water, watching as the fish sparkled in the sunlight. His eyes followed one in particular: a large, white Koi that was decorated with golden scales on its head and fins.

"So pretty..." He murmured to himself.

Mr. Ackerman smiled before walking off to finish his yardwork, all the while Eren admired the fish.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

"What're you doing?"

Eren lifted his face to look at the person who just spoke.

"Feeding the fish." Eren answered as he dropped a couple scoops of fish food into the pond. "Mr. Ackerman asked me to."

"Oh. Cool."

The boy sat down next to Eren and gazed at the fish.

"Oooh! That one's new." He said as he pointed to Eren's favorite white Koi. "And it's so pretty!"

"It's new?"

"Yeah, I've never seen it in the pond before. The Ackermans must've gotten it on their last trip."

Armin's eyes were reflecting the sparkle of the water, making him look even more excited. Eren placed his elbows against the edge of the pond and stared into the water. He made internal notes of the fish, how their scales were different colors, the way their tails flowed with the waft of the water, and their interactions with the other fish.

"Hey, Armin?"

"Hm?"

"Have you ever been to Japan?"

Armin looked away from the fish.

"Yeah, the Ackermans took me with them last year. Mikasa wanted me to come along to keep her company."

"Oh, but doesn't she have a big family. Are they not nice people?"

"Oh, no, they're super nice. It's just because her parents and grandparents talk a lot, so they send the kids outside to play. But her cousin never talks to her, that's why she wanted me to come along."

Eren looked down, "That makes sense."

"Mhm."

"Well, I should head back in, dinner's gonna be ready soon." Eren declared as he stood up.

"Yeah, I should too. My grandpa is probably waiting for me."

Armin stood and proceeded to walk to the front of the house.

"See you later, Eren!" He shouted before turning the corner.

Eren waved, then ran into the house, ready to help with the cooking.

.

.

.


End file.
